ordofabulafandomcom-20200215-history
Dirge of Throes/Summary
'- Resolve -' The growing stress of their leader's kidnapping by the enemy Etri at it's boiling point, as well as the new revelation rewarded to Kaiser via a dreamscape created by Himeko herself, drove the camp allies enemy into seeking aid from the only one whom managed to break ties from the witch and live to tell the tale: Alhildr, the wolfdregil. Leaving no room to argue, Kaiser urged the wolf girl to help him in his quest to save the fairy tale, to which she agreed with little qualms, having already resolved to do so. Friend of Himeko, annoyed with the enemy fox's disregard towards their own wishes to save their friend, took up arms, and as a party, they left to travel to the Vucari's home base in Hurumia. Along the way, Kaiser questions the ex-servant about the origins of Himeko, and her ties to the woman whom took possession of her body all too easily. Alhildr once more confirms that the witch is Himeko's biological mother and adds new knowledge to the table. Etri's body has become corrupt, falling apart due to an unknown reason, though one could assume it is the over usage of her powers. Therefore, a new body is required, and who's better than her own daughter's, stating that she was the only one who could maintain Etri's vileness, however, based on the growing hole, created by Elise's sword stabbed through her by her best friend and fellow fairy tale Blaise, it would seem that it doesn't have much longer itself. As the group grows closer to their destiantion, Alhildr remarks to herself that the miasma that had taken over the hide out prior to Himeko being taken over, has all but disappeared, a strange occurrence, and even stranger, inside the grand ruins of a castle, it is revealed that Etri and her slaves have all but disappeared, leaving naught but a circular basin filled with what looks like blood, with soft rose petals floating on it's surface, in their wake. Despite their unwillingness to touch it, the group eventually does so, revealing the pool to be a portal to a new world. '- Familiar, yet unfamiliar Territory -' The world the group fell in appears to be a once prosperous kingdom, now taken over by forest growth. Snow like flakes, though gray, not stark white, fall from the crystal blue sky, despite there not being a cloud in the sky. Unable to see herself, Alhildr's unaware of the truly queer nature of the new territory, however, due to her empathy, the feelings surrounding her, those not ''belonging to the group, but to beings she couldn't see and neither could the party at first. The voices whisper, complaining about their lack of vision, and the fact that they could not breathe properly, and about someone being a fault. Suffocating the wolf, the party is finally given a view of the once invisible beings. Shades, shadows forming from the very foundations of the decreipt cityscape, their bodies varied in size but each were translucent and dripped a tar like substance. Around the party, the lit lampposts begin to flicker on and off. The resolve of the shadow beings increase to the point that their whispers grow louder and their focus finally falls on the party, deeming them as intruders, as the one's they speak of who caused their apparent misfortune. Alhildr pleads for escape, grasping at the nearest person, running away for dear life. However, Blaise faltered, the familiarity of the city striking her, deciding that she should attempt to hold back the creatures she thought she could fight fairly. With little effort, the shadows form into one entity, growing close to Blaise, threatening to smother her under a large hand. As they continue to cry out, talking of ash, of shadows and smoke, a sickness plaguing them, a familiar voice calls out to the girl, urging her to run, that she would not be able to fight it. Meanwhile, Blaise's lover Corvo manages to gather the girl from the enemy and follow the others whom have taken to running down the cobblestone road. Alhildr gestures to an escape, a feeling helping guiding her to an open door. The party quickly enters the home, closing the door on the creature before it can do harm. It gives up pursuit promptly, disappearing into the abandoned streets. Inside the sanctuary, the group finds the place nearly intact, but more so, discovers what the feeling the wolf girl had felt that had led her to such a home. A small girl, sickly, pale, breaks the silence questioning the group. Are they scared? She's scared. She's scared of it ''all. '- Etienne -' The conversation appears slightly one-sided at first, until the small girl carries herself to a window, looking out towards a castle, great and dark looming in the distance. She then states that "she is there" and that "Mama and Papa are sad" that "the other mama is scary and that she has locked her up". She goes on to say that it's her fault, or rather, she has been told so by her mother but not her father, but she feels as though he lied to make her feel better. She questions why she did it, and that she hadn't meant to, never fully explaining what she had done or why she thought she was bad. The child then pulls open the door, walking out into the newly transformed weather. A heat like any other burns, hitting the group as soon as they follow the girl, who states that they have to save "her" and to make things "right". Alhildr and the party take off following after the child, and as they do so, find themselves standing before the castle previously referred to by the girl, the heat growing worse and worse, however, at first it seemed the girl had all but vanished. The small girl, though, stepped behind them, her sickly appearance suddenly changing before their eyes, her black hair beginning to color white at the roots and her dull eyes turning bright blue, looking drastically different and so much like Himeko. When next she speaks, the girl talks normally, thanking them for coming to save her, and that she was happy they had come. "She" said she would come, she states, and explains that Himeko is scared, like her, and that "mama" is going to hurt them. She questions if they are truly going to save them. Etienne isn't allowed to smile or be happy, Etienne was made to destroy. Asking why it was like that, the girl shuddered and began to fade. The party expresses their hurt at the girl, and Alhildr connects the two girls together. Etienne is Himeko, and Himeko is Etienne. The child before them is Himeko as a child. It appears Etri knows not of the apparitions appearance, but Himeko does, and perhaps she's a fragment of the girl, an attempt to guide them the right way. Etienne appears to not know much, her space of existence limited due to both the witch as well as the creatures that hate her, that could only be the shadow beings the party had encountered prior. As the girl disappears, she implores them to search in the west wing, that Himeko is imprisoned beneath the castle. She thanks them again for coming to save her, as she finally ceases to exist. '- Pieces of the Past -' Entering the castle, a chilling feeling hits the party. Above the grand staircase, leading towards the right and left respectively, a portrait sits that the party can only assume is Himeko/Etienne and her parents, however the woman looks nothing like Etri. As they drink it in, voices hit their ears, talking about how much trouble the princess (confirming Himeko is definitely a princess) has gotten into yet again and that a King Cormic is asking for someone's audience. More voices comment on Princess Etienne's state, how she suddenly was no longer sick, as if she had been before, and that the citizens are beginning to whisper about witchcraft, a practice that appears to be taboo, and to a certain extent even feared. Despite their words, one attempts to hush the other, stating they could get in trouble, but the other says that there is one person allowed to speak ill of the princess, Lady Aceline. Continuing to the west wing, more words are heard, this time between a man and woman they can only assume is Cormic and Aceline speaking of the princess and the rumors spreading. It appears the queen believes them all too well, and Cormic is wholeheartedly against it, stating the girl is a child, that there is no way they are true, and yet, Aceline spats out a shocking fact for the kingdom at the time. Her hair is white, and that is not normal, and too much like past stories, those tall tales told to children to make them behave. Entering the west wing and the only room there, they stumble upon a wreckage, as if someone had ransacked the room, tearing to find what they desired. Once more voices speaking, painting a picture for the fairy tales. For the first time, Etienne from the past speaks to her father, scared and crying. Cormic urges her to calm down, that it will be okay and that his wound is minor, that they will not die. He then instructs her to go "down" and something about "catacombs" The evidence striking, Alhildr takes matters into her own blind hands, and heaves the bed up from it's position to reveal a trap door no doubt where the father and daughter escaped from the rebelling citizens pounding at the door for vengeance. Decsencding down, the party finds themselves inside a cistern, ankle deep water lapping at their heels as they walk into the dimly lit and chilly surroundings. Once more, the water is tinted red, darker than the water they had fell into to get to the world. Walking along, a voice calls to them. Help me... With resolve in their step, they rush towards where the whisper had came from and the feeling falling over the empath. '- The Truth and the Liberation -' Strewn up like a doll, Himeko's form hangs over a throne, thorns upon thorns and vines digging into her pale, stark naked skin. The blood in the water is revealed to be her own, and that the vines are sucking the life out of the fairy tale. Etri, whom has taken on the appearance of her daughter, sits in the throne, grinning wryly. She'd been expecting them, and states she's willing to reveal the truth if they so wish it, before she ends their lives as well as Himeko's finally. Listening, Etri paints a tale for them. Etienne's truth revealed: she caused the destruction of her home land, and the death of her father, whom was murdered by the very citizens he had protected. A spell cast by Etri herself for revenge, and the witch continued to poison her child. Himeko was rewarded her name after she had been imprisoned by a neighboring kingdom who thought her a culprit in the mass murder that Samhain and had forgotten her past after so many years in the darkness by her best friend Blaise. She was never a Maledicti, but a Cailleach, a witch like Etri. As she outstretches a hand, Himeko's book appears, giving the reason she had been able to control the girl from the start. Everything revealed, Himeko calls out for help through the pain. Kaiser is the first to attack, assulting the witch whom assumed she had won. The book slides away, immediately taken up by Hanketsu, and as he does so, Etri summons her group of wolves to help aid her, but it does not go as planned. They rebel, attacking the witch and pinning her, all the while Alhildr takes the book from Hanketsu's possession and proceeds to toss it at the dying girl. The book enters Himeko's body, a sense of elation and completion enveloping her as the vines and thorns fall away and she herself falls to the ground, no longer naked but clad in clothing familiar to her. Her hair is longer and her body is stronger than before. Etri screams in rage against the situation. At the same time, another being appears, the sacred weapon, Yūrei, reveals itself, and takes Hanketsu as it's master. Taking matters into her own hands, Blaise puts an end to Etri. And as the group moves to Himeko's side, the slaves Etri once commanded turned back human and then fade, as they had never been alive to begin with. Jericho and Blank, Himeko's adopted brothers and Alhildr's new family, are one of them, and before they disappear they thank the party, and urge them to continue to watch after the two girls. Stricken with grief, as another thing has been taken from the wolf girl, Alhildr collapses into Elise's and Hanketsu's embrace, and Himeko cries, both sad and happy that she had any contact with them, after what had happened in a past she could finally remember. The fight over, Himeko opens a portal back to Fabula via a rift in the space, and they go back o the ruins of Viridis. Category:Summary